Diamonds and Pearls
by Luna Jackson
Summary: When the Hunger Games don't allow people to volunteer to be tributes, all Shine from District 1 can do is dream.


The dream starts. Glass walls glitter as I walk down a small corridor. Lights are flashing everywhere and I try and take in the moment. I know why I am here. I have won the Hunger Games. My biggest dream. I frown to myself. I know this is a dream, and I do not want to wake up. The doors open in front of me and the light from the sun shines through hitting my face. I look down and shield my eyes from the bright light. I breathe in a cold breath of cool, winter air that could chill you to the bone in seconds. Hello, arena.

Most of my dreams do not seem to make sense to me. I have already won the competition, so why am I entering the arena?

I wake up startled. The sound of my pesky alarm clock is buzzing in my ear and I slam down on the top hard. The top is sharp and pierces through my palm. The pain begins to sting instantly. I clutch my hand in my other and hop out of bed. The sheets get tangled in legs and I kick them off while I stumble towards the white door with the golden handle. I press it down with my elbow and push with the right side of my body and bouncing it off of my hip.

I walk onto the cool, wood surface of my kitchen floor. Kneeling by a cabinet, I grab the handle with my pinky and hold it up with my elbow. I grab the first aid kit and fix up my hand with a soft, cotton cloth straight from District 11. The cotton soothes my pain and I start to head back to my room. The sunlight is starting to peak up over grassy hills and the gray mist of morning gives me claustrophobia. I breathe in heavily and begin to dress in my nicest clothes. Today is the Reaping. The day where a lucky boy and girl get to travel to the Capitol and compete to win fame across Panem. I breathe in a sigh as I remember back to my dream.

_How I wish that could be me,_ I think. Being _called up on the large stage with my name printed on the tiny sheet of paper. Oh, how wonderful that would be._

My clothes are on. The shiny, white tank top brings out the blue in my pair of jeans. The diamond encrusted belt is looped around the waist band and matches my diamond necklace and pair of gold and diamond earrings. I slip on a pair of white, shiny flats and grab my Arrows purse from my closet. Oh, how I love designers. The black material contrasts off the white on my shirt and the arrows on the front, which are shaped in an "X", are made out of more diamonds. Thank you, District 1!

District 1, the most fabulous of the 12 districts of Panem. We make gifts for the Capitol, hence why they love us, so. Diamonds, and jewelry, and stained glass, oh my! The other eleven don't even come close to the level of District 1. The higher the number, the less we care about the district. That's why District 12 is an embarrassment to even be considered as a district. Or so we're supposed to say. I, however, find them very interesting. I'm not like the other girls, and guys, in this town. I actually have a heart. And a brain. And courage if you want to get all Wizard of Oz about it. All of the rest are very conceited, and just, well, rude. They think they are above everyone else just because their parents actually make the gifts or rap the gifts sent to the capital. But, I tend to act that way, too. At school at least.

The Golden Express picks me up right in front of my large, mansion of a house. I climb the steps and sit down in a seat. I cross my legs, put my Arrows purse next to me, and hold my hands together on the top of my right knee. I glance out the window at the trees that fly by in a blur of colors and the wondrous diamond mines that seem to gleam in the sunlight. We've stopped after about only five minutes on the Express and the seats drop out from underneath the passengers. We land on our feet, some more steady than others, and the floor of the Express floats back up and locks into place over our heads. It zooms away on the invisible, floating track and the passengers and I make our separate ways.

I head towards the outskirts of town. That's where we always meet before a reaping. The mist of the sea raps around me and is encasing me in a cocoon of salty water and cool air. I walk along the sand bare foot with my shoes in my hand. I let the sand squish in-between my toes and let the water wash over my feet. Once I get to a large cliff, I roll up my jeans and plunge into the water. The water proof fabric keeps out the water from soaking in through my clothes and I made sure to use waterproof shampoo the night before.

I swim down and underneath a small cavern about twenty feet under. The light from the morning shines through a small hole at the top and I swim through it. My head breaks the surface first and I take in the salty smell of the morning. I paddle to the shoreline and climb out on the sand. And that's when I see him.

"Hey, Shine!" he yells.

"Hey, Ester!" I smile back.

He laughs at me. His brilliant white smile seems to take my heart and send it soaring through the sky. I climb up the small slope and take a seat next to him on a wool mat that he has set up.

Ester, who's real name is Polyester, and I have been friends since before any of us can remember. I do, however remember the little bronze-haired boy with brilliant green eyes drawing hearts all over my papers in grade two. But, we aren't together or anything, even though everyone thinks we are. But I don't mind that. No one at school actually knows the real Shine Wellington. So why should they believe anything different?

Ester smiles as he reaches over to his leather messenger back and opens up the flap. He pulls out a small, tan shell that looks to be a clam. Or at least what I think is a clam since I've never actually seen one in person before.

He holds his hand out to me with the small clam in it.

"An oyster. I found it on the way here. Underneath that big rock at the bottom of the cavern."

I take it in my hands and move my index finger along the small ridges of the oyster.

"Open it." He smiles.

I hope to the Capitol this isn't an engagement ring.

I take a deep breath of salty sea air and push open the top with my thumb. Inside, on what looks to be a little pink pillow is a white marble, which I know to be a pearl. Very rare in this district. We get shipping's in from District 4 all the time, yes. But to have actually found one, in an underwater cavern at the bottom of the ocean, could be considered a crime. Especially since it was illegal to even be out here on the other side of the big cliff.

I stare at it with wide eyes.

"A-a pearl?" I ask with my eyes never leaving the shiny pearl.

"Yeah," he says, "For good luck you know."

I nod. "Thank you." I whisper.

I take the pearl from it shell and move it around in my fingers. Once I'm done examining it closer, I place it back in its shell and place it carefully in my pocket.

The gong rings.

"Time to get to the reaping, I suppose." I say getting up and brushing the sand off of my jeans.

"Yeah," he says getting up too. "Race you to the other beach."

"You're on."

And with that, we plunge into the cool water of the ocean and race to the beach on the other side of the big cliff.


End file.
